


Moonlight Walking

by amami_mia



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Animal Death, Death, F/F, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Religious Themes, Trans Kaede (implied), a fuckton of crows, bird creature!maki, coffee and chill, finally i can insert my favorite hc, flashbacks within dreams, gore but not sexy gore, im gonna give the monsterfuckers what they want, lets just say..., miu being miu, monster au, songfic based off of the horror of our love by ludo, weird dream sequence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-07
Updated: 2018-03-31
Packaged: 2019-03-28 01:44:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13893597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amami_mia/pseuds/amami_mia
Summary: Kaede Akamatsu is stuck in a small town for the summer. Everything seemed average at first, until people started dying. In the depths of the forest, Kaede spots something. Or is it someone?





	1. 1. Love Notes on Headstones

**Author's Note:**

> This is gonna be my first attempt at a multi-chapter fic, so updates might be sporadic! Hope you enjoy!

The sky was an ashy grey, seemingly covered in clouds. The entire graveyard was monochrome, with color only found in the spattering of bouquets at tombstones. The air was empty. Kaede Akamatsu stood in front of her father’s grave in a black dress, impartially staring down. The funeral had ended three hours ago, but she stayed there with the diligence of a nightguard. She didn’t quite know why she stayed at his grave. Kaede and her father had never gotten along, and she couldn’t say that his death left her with much sorrow. It would simply just be her and her piano alone in the upper floor of the church for the rest of the summer. _Well_ , she thought, _it certainly doesn’t seem like much of a summer anyways_. The cold air nipped at her exposed legs. Even still, she stood there in the deafening silence, watching the grass move in the slight wind.

 

How often had she been to this graveyard in the past few weeks? Kaede pondered for a while, but she couldn’t answer that. For the past month, every single day a new person ended up dead, gruesomely ripped apart and left in the woods. No one went outside anymore, not even the grieving. The village had become a ghost town overnight. Those who didn’t move or frantically ended their lives were the only ones left, which consisted mostly of the elderly, sick, and poor. Kaede had no choice in her stay, however. Her father had said that they were to stay at the church, and so at the church they stayed. Any dreams of summer romances that she had envisioned had been left firmly behind the drafty doors of the stone building. At the very least, the church organ was nice.

 

Kaede bent down to adjust the flowers left on her father’s tombstone for what must have been the fourth time that hour. The types of flowers seemed to vary - at least, she thought so, she had never been a flower expert -, but the color did not. They were all lily white. As her head came back up, however, she saw something out of the corner of her eye. In the forest, a brown and black blur had rushed between trees. Her eyes widened and her heart picked up its pace. _Thump. Thump. Thump._ She stepped back, her heels crushing the flowers’ heads. All that was left were white petals strewn across the grass.

 

The fear and adrenaline hit Kaede like a freight train. Her legs, on their own, moved forwards. Before she knew it, she was running through the maze of tombstones, towards the forest. That _thing_ , who- _what_ ever was in those woods was the one who killed them. In those moments, if she were to pick one truth, it would have been that. Kaede could vaguely register pain in her ankles, but she brushed it off. She could deal with the consequences of running in heels later.

 

Kaede dashed past tree after tree, bush after bush, and log after log. All was silent except for the pounding of her heart, the crunching leaves under her feet, and the crows in the trees above, looking down at her as if they were watching a cruel play. After what seemed like eternity, Kaede halted in a clearing, surrounded by dead grass and weeds. The physical reality of what she was doing had caught up to her, and she lay down panting. The sky, from what she could see, was the same as ever; cloudy, grey, and dull. Only the flocks of birds above distracted from the monotony of it all.

 

Minutes passed by, with Kaede’s shallow breaths filling up the air. Everything hurt, but she _had_ to carry on. She slowly rose up, teetering as she did, and stared into the depths of the forest while steadying herself. Her black dress was now ripped in places, and she could feel blisters forming on her feet. She had gotten cuts from branches, some of which would definitely need to be patched up later. Kaede wobbled and took another step forward, and called out into the abyss.

 

“Hello?”

 

She didn’t know who her scream was directed at. No killer would give her the dignity of a response, no animal could respond, and there wasn’t a good person for a mile in any direction. And yet she screamed into the void anyways to attract either friend or foe. At this point, she didn’t care who came for her, she just wanted to take a nap. Her attempts proved futile, and she fell back onto the ground with a choked sob, her dress now ruined. What else could she do? Resigned, she accepted defeat, and turned around to begin heading home.

 

Kaede had gotten herself terribly lost in the maze of trees, and she knew it. Her only clues were the bits of crumpled leaves scattered about; her own personal breadcrumbs trail. Even when walking, she still was alert, turning around whenever there was the slightest bit of noise. As time went on, her anxiety decreased, but there still was a nagging voice in the back of her head. By now, she was beginning to see the flaws in her earlier reasoning. Something of that shape had to be a bear, and a bear couldn’t kill dozens in a town. Her emotions were simply heightened, that was all. Kaede nervously chuckled at her oversight as she applied pressure to a cut on her right arm. As she exited the forest and returned to the uncomfortably familiar sight of the graveyard, she felt at peace. At least, until she got closer to her father’s tombstone once more.

 

Laying on top of all of the flowers was a dead rabbit, organs pulled out and blood dripping onto the now-crimson flowers. Shock set in. Kaede’s head spun as the world turned black and she fell into unconsciousness. In her last moments awake, she swore she could hear odd footsteps in the distance. Everything was numb.


	2. Between the Pines

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaede wakes up in an odd forest.

The forest loomed above Kaede’s head, blocking out everything but the bright and pale full moon. Everything was painted shades of blue, yellow, and red, like a child’s crayon drawing. She wandered through the blurry trees in the spotless white nightgown she always hid in the back of her closet. All was silent.

 

Moonbeams lit up a path for her to follow, and follow it she did. Her path had her ducking under branches that seemed to disappear seconds later and stepping over rocks that grew and shrink intermittently. Her nightgown did not get a single tear or blemish as she maneuvered the sleeping forest.

 

Kaede found it odd how there were no crows. No shrieks and caws rang out from around the forest like they always did. It was unsettling.

 

Had Kaede not passed by this rock before? It seemed as if she was going in circles. But that idea was ridiculous, of course. She hadn’t turned once. There was no circle to go in, and that was that.

 

Her hair stayed perfectly in place, a bright yellow hue to complement this forest of primary colors. The trees were blue, the moon was yellow, and the sky was a deep red. It looked like a crayon box had vomited over everything within sight.

 

Had Kaede not passed by this rock before? It seemed as if she was going in circles. How peculiar. That thought seemed familiar, as if she had thought it before. She didn’t mull over it much, however. There was a reason for everything. She had simply been afflicted by deja vu.

 

There was no wind tonight, and yet Kaede was cold and shivering. As she walked through the forest, she hugged herself, hoping to get more warmth in her body. Her teeth chattered while she sweated. Her body was both lit on fire and set on ice. She ignored the sensation as she pressed on, determined to find where the moon would take her.

 

The moon stared down at her, uncaring and emotionless, and yet a guiding mother all the same.

 

Had Kaede not passed by this rock before? It seemed as if she was going in circles. The yellow light reflected in the tiny puddle nearby as she finally sat down. Everything was cold, and yet warm to the touch. Was she dead? Was this hell? No, hell would not have the prettiest moon she had ever seen. Purgatory, perhaps? She tried to think of why she would be in purgatory. Her mind came up blank.

 

Why would she be dead, anyways? She racked her brain for an answer. Her memories were foggy. She remembered black dresses and crimson flowers, but nothing more. The puddle stayed in place. She threw a rock into it. It did not ripple. She looked into the puddle and gazed at her reflection and the moon above. What was she missing? What else happened? What couldn’t she remember?

As Kaede sat there pondering, she heard a shriek from above. She looked up to see a single crow, flying towards where the moonlight led. She snapped up and started running on the moonlit path. She didn’t know why she was eager to follow the crows. Perhaps the crows would offer an answer for her predicament.

 

For once, she did not pass the rock.

 

Kaede ran for a while, and yet did not feel fatigue. How odd. Her nightgown remained blemish-free. Her footsteps followed a fast tempo.

 

_ One-Two-Three-Four.  _

_ One-Two-Three-Four.  _

_ One-Two-Three-Four. _

 

Clearing after clearing, she went deeper into the forest. The farther in she went, the more dull the colors got. Prismacolor hues had slowly turned into a grey mush, with little to distinguish between colors. The only things that stayed the same was the dark red sky and the bright yellow moon, both looking down at her from above.

 

The woods were no longer silent. The crows had returned. Kaede could now feel them staring at her from their perches in the trees. They were all pitch black. Their gazes were long and unmoving. Their eyes followed Kaede as she ran, piercing into the back of her head.

 

Her legs still didn’t feel tired. How long had she been running? It felt like 5 minutes and 5 hours. She wasn’t sure. She wasn’t sure about anything. Everything blurred together as she passed it, blues and reds and yellows forming a brown slush.

 

At last, Kaede reached the center of the forest. There was a large clearing with one tall rock in the center, almost like a pillar. It stood tall and intimidating above the pines. In the trees surrounding the field were crows, cawing from every branch. Kaede tried to count the crows, but they were a writhing mass, unable to be quantified. The moon shone from above, coating the grey stone in a pale yellow sheen.

 

Kaede stood still. She didn’t know what to do. 

 

Then, slowly, a winged figure emerged from behind the stone.

 

At first glance, the creature appeared to be human, despite its red-eyed glare. The pitch-black wings that sprouted out of its back served to contrast that, eerily offsetting the rest of the monster’s body. Its hands were claws, and its feet were like a birds. It took a step forwards, the brown mass that Kaede assumed was hair moving with it. Upon further inspection, however, the hair was feathers.

 

Kaede stood still, absolutely petrified. The creature took another step forwards. The sound was familiar, as if she had heard it in a dream before. A dream of graveyards and dead rabbits. Nausea flooded her head as she remembered. She wanted to run away from this hellish forest until everything was sore, but her feet stayed in place.

 

The bird creature inched closer and closer, red eyes unblinking. 10 feet away, 9 feet, 8, 7. Kaede swiveled around, adrenaline kicking in. As she turned, however, her heart fell. Where the path back had once been was now filled with a swarm of crows, forming an uncrossable wall. Kaede was stuck there. It was just her and the monster behind her.   
  


She felt a rough claw on her right shoulder, piercing through her nightgown. She tried to scream, but not a single noise came out of her mouth. Blood trickled down onto the right side of her dress, and then the left side as another claw came to grip her shoulder. 

 

Was this what it felt like to die? Kaede did not breathe a single breath as she waited for the inevitable. Her head was spinning. She felt a sharp pain in her back. Everything grew darker. In her mind, she prayed for the first time in years. She hoped she would go to heaven. As she fell to the floor, she could see the red eyes of her killer. It was a shame that it was a monster. Its eyes were kind of cute. Kaede quietly laughed at the misfortune of all of this, although it came out as a wheeze. The creature looked down at her, gaze apathetic. 

 

Kaede had died.

 

* * *

 

She awoke in her bed in the church, sweating and screaming. The sun had just risen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (for anyone confused the bird lady is maki and that whole thing was just a dream)
> 
> This chapter was fun to write! I played around with a few literary devices for this one, so I don't know how well I did. I hope things get interesting from here!


	3. I Wake In Terror

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaede wakes up, and things are off.

Kaede sat upright in bed. How had she gotten here? Her head was reeling. All she could remember was passing out in the graveyard. Her dream hadn’t helped matters either. Everything was mixing up in her head.

The stone walls of the room were cold and uninviting to look at for too long. Kaede diverted her gaze from them, trying to find something else to focus on while her brain adjusted to being awake. She gingerly reached up to touch her shoulders and was relieved to find only the straps of her black dress. Her legs ached still. While she slept, band-aids had been placed on her cuts, even though most were too big for just a single one. 

As she shifted her view to her right, her eyes focused on a note on her bedside. She picked it up and read it.

“Dear Kaede,  
I happened to be visiting the graveyard when I saw you lying on the ground. I was awfully concerned, so I decided to bring you back home. I know that losing your father has been stressful, but passing out isn’t a good way to manage that grief! Stay safe ♡  
Ms. Chisa

P.S.: All those pretty red flowers were messed up when I arrived, so I put them back in place for you! No need to thank me.”

Kaede frowned as she looked at the letter. Something seemed off about Ms. Chisa’s description of the scene. Something was missing. Red flowers? Weren’t they different before? 

The realization of what was wrong hit her in a flash. The rabbit was gone.

Kaede's head felt dizzy. Someone had placed the rabbit there, and someone had taken it, both without a word. Just thinking about it was enough to make her feel nauseous once more.

She carefully swung her legs out of bed, steadying herself on various objects as she slowly moved across her room. She made sure not to bump the old photo on her dresser. It was the last picture of her mother and her, taken on a summer afternoon at a park. Her mother was smiling while holding Kaede, who was not quite nine yet. If it got damaged, her only way to remember her mother would be lost to time, destroyed forever.

The door to her room was left open, presumably by Chisa when she left. Kaede closed the wooden door behind her, hobbling down the stone hallways. The church had been meant for dozens of nuns and priests to live in, but now only she remained. She had free reign of it for the rest of the summer, that is, if she lived that long.

As she stumbled through the high ceilings, she pondered on what to do. Perhaps she should get herself some food. Yes, that would be a good starting point. Kaede could feel the emptiness in her stomach that came from not eating for a day. She made her way past the tall windows and started down the spiral staircase. Shadows were over exaggerated from the dim light at the top of the stairwell, giving everything a ghostly appearance. The only view visible from the windows that lined the walls were trees. She limped on every step, holding tightly onto the right rail.

The kitchen was only a few doors away from the exit of the staircase. It was large, made for many more people than just a tired and scratched up girl to come through. Kaede ruffled through the shiny wood cabinets, which were a few of the only modern things in the building. She quickly found the bread and jelly she had been relying on since her father’s death, but both were running out. She decided to ignore what that meant as she grabbed a butter knife, lay two slices of bread out on a plate, and slathered them generously with jelly. The monotonous task helped her keep her mind off of the events of the entire summer. It was soothing, a tiny vacation in the sea of helplessness that had consumed the town.

Kaede sat down at the kitchen counter as she ate. The lack of any bodies next to her was discomforting. At the beginning of summer, she had always had someone in the dreary church next to her. Some days it would be the loud and foul-mouthed mechanic that she met at the lake, or the quiet apprentice detective who she befriended at the library. When they stopped coming, her dad would silently sit by at the counter, reading a book. But now she was much too alone, and the air was much too silent.

She finished her sandwich and dumped her plate in the sink. As she was about to leave the room, she remembered the knife rack that hung on the wall. Kaede quickly grabbed one of the smaller knives. She’d need some means of self-defense. After looting through the kitchen cabinets, she also found a small bag, which she placed the knife in. Better safe than sorry, after all.

She closed the cabinet and slowly walked out of the room to find the sanctuary of the church where the church organ sat. It wasn’t a piano, but it was the closest thing she had to one. At this point, she’d settle for a kazoo, as long as it would drown out the silence. Kaede moved forwards through the halls, looking ahead. The wooden flooring was uncomfortable against her bare feet, but she was too tired to register the pain.

The large wooden doors to the sanctuary creaked as she opened them. For a moment, she stood still at the entrance, taking in the empty benches lined up in neat rows. The ornate stained-glass windows coated the room in yellows, oranges, reds, and blues. The organ was behind the preacher’s pulpit, sitting in front of another stained-glass window, this one depicting some scene that Kaede didn’t know. The keys were coated in rainbows, and light flooded down onto the bench on which she sat.

She inhaled and pressed her fingers down onto the keys. A soft melody played. It was her mother’s favorite song, which her mother taught her at age 4. She had long forgotten the name, but she would never forget the ways her fingers were supposed to hit the piano keys. It was a peaceful refrain, one that her mother had always compared to a moon over the ocean. It started out slow, but then slowly picked up tempo and intensity as it reached its peak, calming down to repeat the melody once more. It was simple, yet calming, like waves washing onto a shore. 

Kaede had lost count of how many times she had repeated the song over. It was the only thing keeping her from being lonely. As her fingers flew across the keys for the build-up of the song, she heard a shuffling noise. She froze mid-note, body paralyzed. There was silence. Then another noise came from outside from an open window, followed by a weak groan and coughing. Kaede slowly got up from the organ bench. Her legs wobbled, partially out of fear, partially because of her earlier injuries. Her hands fumbled towards the bag she had brought earlier, shakily undoing the clasp and taking out the knife. Step by step, she silently moved towards the door to the garden outside.

The wooden door, hidden behind a plant against the wall, opened noiselessly into the garden full of withered grass. What had once been a place of beauty had fallen into irreparable disarray. Kaede’s brain recalled talking to Miu once about fixing the place up. She quickly dismissed that thought. It would do no good to focus on the past. The grass hid the sounds of her footsteps as she maneuvered through the stone statues left as memorials for church members who passed on. The shuffling noises persisted. Kaede had heard that sound before, but she couldn’t quite place where she had. She did not dare to take a single breath in the cold air.

She passed a final stone statue and was met with nothing. The only things there were her, the fence, and the kitchen knife she gripped tightly in her trembling hands. Kaede strained her ears to try to hear what direction the noises were coming from. All she could hear was silence.

Kaede prepared to turn around. However, mid-turn, she saw something to her left. She immediately stopped in her tracks. All she could see were brown wings stained bright red. Her heart raced. She had seen those wings before, once upon a dream. She walked slowly through the grass, heart going at a thousand miles per second. When she got closer, her worst fears were confused.

Lying down on a stone plaque was the thing from her dreams. Her body was covered in deep scratches. Her breathing was labored, and blood spilled out of her. Kaede stood above her, looking on in terror. What should she do? If this was any human, she would have taken her inside and bandaged her - was she a her? Her body certainly had the things that one would consider integral to being a her, but a monster’s anatomy might be different. Kaede envied her. Out of the two of them, the monster had the things she lacked - but she was not a human. She was the one who had terrorized the town for a month now. Kaede looked at the knife held in her hands, and back down at her. It wouldn’t take much strength to deal a blow that would do the job…..

Kaede was struck with a moral dilemma. Should she treat her as if she was a human? Or should she show no mercy? Her eyes scanned over the winged figure below her once more. A third option came to her. Perhaps she should just let her die, remaining a passive force? The question got more confusing the more dimensions Kaede added to it in her head. She was so preoccupied with her qualms that she did not notice the opening of a blazing red eye and it fixating directly on her. A quiet and shaky voice snapped her out of her questioning haze.

“Hey, can you help me out here?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was gonna wait to finish this chapter until tomorrow, but inspiration struck me, so here we are!  
> Thank you all so much for the positive feedback I've gotten so far! Hopefully, later chapters will be just as good or even better!!
> 
> Also, I made a spotify playlist for this fic: https://open.spotify.com/user/ipek8yika7v64dh5b3yz7b2wo/playlist/4XB9vBEuE3ML1iHE0SdtfF?si=K1I3ngHTRJ22GE8Cen4cOA  
> It's what I listen to while writing most of the time!


	4. Blackbirds Singing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaede is faced with a slight dilemma.

Kaede looked down at the sudden noise and took a step back. The winged creature had regained consciousness and was looking up into her eyes. Her face was covered in scratches and her gleaming red eyes looked sad rather than scary. Kaede didn’t know what to do. This decision was much easier to make back when the body lying on the stone was still and without personality. But now she was looking up at her helplessly, looking more like a dying bird than a fearsome monster.

“Did you hear me?” the voice said again. She looked impatient, though Kaede supposed that impatience came hand in hand with dying.

Kaede gulped and made a quick choice. She reached her hand down tentatively to grasp at the clawed appendage of the crow monster. The other hesitated for a second, but grabbed on regardless and was hoisted up. Kaede positioned herself so that her hand was supporting the bloodied creature, and began walking slowly.

“Uh, we’re going to get you a bandage,” Kaede said, trying the best she could to not get blood on her hands. Blood was gross. “And after that, uh…” She trailed off. She hadn’t really thought this far ahead. She got no response back other than a grunt.

“Do what you want. I don’t really care.” the winged girl said. She was trying to sound apathetic, but there were traces of fear in her voice. The two continued through the stone statues in silence. The grass was as dead as the conversation.

As they reached the doors, Kaede wondered why she was even doing this. Why was she helping someone who, for all she knew, had killed half the town? She supposed it was because of her human-like appearance. It would have been so much quicker to end this all if the mysterious creature had not a trace of humanity left. But now her brain associated the winged woman’s figure with one of a person, and that alone would make things much tougher. As she weaved through the benches, monster girl in tow, time seemed to blend together. Kaede didn’t quite know when she arrived at the bathroom, but here she was. She helped the bird lady sit down against the sink, and began to rummage through the cabinets to look for first aid supplies.

Kaede carefully bent down in front of the other and examined the wounds on her body. There were gashed up and down her torso. Kaede didn’t know what they were from. Her hand instinctively went down to the phone in her bag for a moment, paused, and then returned to its original position. She wouldn’t be able to contact who could possibly tell. Her eyes traveled down to the other’s legs. There were tiny scratches all across them. Those could be saved to take care of for later, Kaede decided. She grabbed a roll of bandages from beside her and began working to mend the creature’s damaged body.

Speaking of the creature, Kaede realized that she really needed something better to call her than “bird monster lady” or “the creature with wings”. She took a cautious breath.

“Hey, do you have a name?” It was the best chance she had at getting an answer, after all. She did seem to know how to speak. For a few moments, she got no response other than a blank red stare at her face. When she finally had given up, a cracking voice broke the silence.

“Maki. My name is Maki.” Maki said, stare unflinching. In contrast to her unbreakable facade, however, her voice was trembling. It seemed as if she hadn’t talked in a while.

Kaede stood still for a few seconds out of shock and then began bandaging Maki again. After another minute of silence, she began speaking to fill the void in the air.

What she had intended to say was something along the lines of “I’m going to apply pressure on your wounds in order to properly bandage them, so this might hurt a bit.” What instead came out of Kaede’s mouth was a nervous “Uh….. I’m gonna…. just… umm… do this right now and…” before she slowly pushed a bandage onto the biggest gash. Maki hissed for a second but remained silent as the pain quickly subsided. This process repeated for the rest of the wounds across her skin, both staying completely silent other than a quiet “Aw, fuck…” from Kaede or a grunt from Maki.

Ten minutes, two rolls of bandages, one and a half boxes of band-aids, and a ruined dishcloth later, Maki’s wounds were mostly treated, at the expense of the cleanliness of Kaede’s hands. Kaede quickly rushed to the sink after Maki stood up, and vigorously washed her hands. She could still see the other’s unmoving gaze resting on her in the mirror, and was faced with the reality of this situation once again. Kaede slowly turned around to face Maki. For a few seconds there was silence, but only a few. Kaede inhaled and prepared the most important of her many questions swirling around in her head.

“Are you the one who’s been…. you know?” She mentally kicked herself in the foot after the words exited her mouth. Ah yes, the most specific phrase in the universe, ‘you know’.

“That depends,” Maki said, leaning against the bathtub, “what does ‘you know’ mean?” She had a slight smirk on her face, but it seemed to disappear in a trace.

“Uh… the murders.” Kaede said, trying to avoid eye contact. Her right hand slowly moved down to the bag in which she had stowed the knife once more. Up close, she knew a knife would do very little if she were to be attacked, but having it near her felt safe.

Maki seemed to ponder over her answer for a few seconds. “Depends.” she said, arms crossed and keeping her gaze steady.

“What does ‘depends’ even mean?” Kaede said, more confused than ever. Her question had seemed pretty black and white to her. There were only three possible answers to it: Yes, no, and partially.

Maki’s wings twitched as she shrugged. “It really depends on your definition of ‘murder’,” she said. “Did I kill them? Yes. But did I do it consciously? No. At the end of the day, it really depends on where you draw the lines.” The room was silent except for the noise of trees in the wind outside after she said that. Kaede’s hand, which had before slowly slid away from her purse, slowly moved back to it.

“What kind of answer is that?” Kaede said, concern seeping through her voice. She tried to back away, but the only thing behind her was the sink. She was trapped and panicked.

“Relax,” Maki said. She moved backward in order to give Kaede more space, but her talons slipped on the still-wet floor and she was launched into the tub. She groaned, and said, “I’m not going to hurt you.” Kaede had to admit, this situation was a lot less scary when the other was sprawled out in the tub. It was kind of endearing.

Maki slowly stood up, her talons not quite catching hold on the smooth floor of the tub. She reached one of her clawed hands out to the side of the tub in order to gain some stability. “Am I allowed to stay here?” she asked, after some hesitation.

Kaede pondered over this. On one hand, letting Maki stay could lead to her demise. But then again, did she have much to live for to begin with?

“Sure, why not.” She said, pulling Maki up. “Just as a ground rule, though,” she added quickly, “no killing people.” Kaede tried to keep her voice serious, but she couldn’t hold back the giggles that came from the absurdity of saying that sentence.

“Understood.” Maki said, a slight grin on her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry for the radio silence! Unfortunately, the past two weeks have made it really hard to write much, which is why this chapter was delayed for so long. After a bit of thinking, I've decided that updates will be made weekly, with one every Friday, possibly Saturday if I'm running too late. When my schedule clears up in a month, the pace might increase, but for now weekly updates are the best option for me. I've also plotted out the story more clearly, and updated the number of chapters that will be needed accordingly. It will probably change in the future, but I just like to keep it as a reminder for myself.
> 
> Also, unrelated to this fic, but I participated in my school's walkout on the 14th! It was really fun and I hope any of you that participated in a walkout in your area had fun as well.


	5. Between the Pines

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaede has learned that dreams are never for the better.

The stars shone bright outside of Kaede’s bedroom window. The signature fog that had been cast over the entire summer was gone for now, and in its place was the midnight sky. Wind cast a slight chill over the entire room, inhabited only by a sleeping Maki and a thoroughly confused Kaede. Her brain was completely scrambled over the course of a few hours, and now here she was, with a sleeping and now clothed bird lady on her floor, curled up in blankets. Kaede was in her bed, sitting up and looking at the night sky.

 

As much as she tried to process it in her head, Kaede couldn’t quite grasp the surrealness of her situation. She had intended to kill the monstrous murderer of her town, and yet she had not only let her live but patched up her wounds and gave her old clothes to wear that she cut wing holes in.

 

Speaking of the clothes, she was proud of herself for being able to fix them up to fit Maki. It was a small thing that made her happy, especially with all the hassle it took. Hopefully, the clothes would last a wh-  _ what was she even thinking _ ?

  
Kaede groaned as she leaned back against her bed’s frame. Why was she even reminiscing about silly things like that? Maki couldn’t stay there forever. She had to go sooner or later, with sooner seeming like the best option. Kaede instinctively reached her hand out to her phone, which was sitting on the bedside table, but then stopped herself. She didn’t have any contact in there that would pick up. Her only emotion support would have to be herself. She sighed and leaned back, and the moment her head hit the pillow sleep overtook her in a flash.

 

* * *

  
  


_ “Did’ya hear?” Miu said loudly, a newspaper in one hand and a spoon filled with cereal in the other. She had invited herself into the church kitchen and had woken up a sleeping Kaede in the process of pouring milk into her bowl.  _

 

_ “Miu, it’s four AM,” Kaede said, rubbing her eyes and starting the coffee maker. Today was going to be a long day. “The only thing I’ve heard all night is the sound of the crows.” she said, leaning against the kitchen counter. She was tired, and her body was urging her to go up the stairs and collapse into her room. “Anyways, what was it that I was supposed to hear?” _

 

_ “Only the biggest news of the summer in this ass-backward town!” Miu cackled, slamming down the newspaper on the table. Kaede looked over, her sleep-deprived words only catching a few key words from the headline of the week’s major news. She wasn’t expecting much, of course. She hadn’t been here long, but “big news” usually meant that someone had caught a really big fish in the lake. However, the paper in front of her said otherwise. _

 

_ “Man found murdered…?” Kaede said confusedly. “Miu, how is this exciting in any way, shape, or form?” she said, crossing her arms as she gave Miu a perplexed look, still leaning against the counter. “This sounds absolutely horrid!” _

 

_ Miu whimpered, deflated like a balloon. “I-I don’t know, I th-thought that at least the incel nerd would get a kick out of it…” She sat back down in her seat, glumly taking a bite of her now-soggy cereal. After a bit of silence, she began to speak again. “Listen, Kaede, you dunno how boring it is in this fucking hell town,” she said, holding her head in her hands. “If it’s some sort of serial killer, at least we’ll get our fifteen minutes of tourism fame, ya know? It’ll be good for the ol’ mechanics business.” After that was just silence, only broken by the beeping of the coffee maker. Kaede took the coffee, but the machine just kept on beeping and beeping and beeping and beeping and bee- _

 

* * *

 

 

Kaede woke up to find red eyes looking directly into her own. She gasped, shoved Maki away, and sat up, all within the span of a second.

  
  


* * *

 

 

The kitchen was quiet, with the only noise coming from the beeping of the coffee maker and the tapping of Maki’s clawed hand against the table. The window to the outside showed that the fog had returned and lay over the town once more. Time slowly crept by as Kaede waited for the coffee machine to warm up. She needed it. She hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before, and any caffeine boost would help. Maybe she could ask Miu for some of her caffeine pi- no, she couldn’t ask that. It was futile to imagine doing it.

 

Kaede attempted to distract herself by looking at Maki, who was absentmindedly looking around the room. Her red eyes seemed to linger longer over things such as the refrigerator and the coffee maker as if she had never seen anything like them before. It occurred to Kaede that she probably  _ hadn’t _ seen anything like those before. She cleared her throat and asked, “Haven’t you ever seen a coffee maker before?” 

 

Maki blankly stared at her. “For the record,” she said, making eye contact, “I have not.” Maki paused yet again, an uncomfortable silence filling the room. 

 

Kaede shrugged. “Eh, can’t really count that against you. You aren’t human, after all.” She grabbed the decanter, which was hanging above her on a shelf, and put it into the coffee maker. She heard a cough from Maki, and then she spoke.

 

“Actually, I was a human once.” she said, her tone flat. “I wasn’t always this way.” While her voice was apathetic, there was no hiding the underlying sadness. The two of them both stayed silent as the coffee slowly poured into the pot.

 

The silence remained when the coffee finished. Kaede put the now-full decanter onto the table and procured two cups from the shelf, along with a bag of sugar from the cupboards. She filled one cup up completely along with a generous helping of sugar and was about the fill the other one up when she hesitated. “Do you want any coffee?” she asked hesitantly.

 

Maki looked across the table at her, and then at the coffee. After a bit of thinking, she responded with a short “Yes, please.” and was promptly passed a full cup.

 

The wind was the only background noise for a while. Neither of them spoke, both of them sipping on their coffees. After a few minutes, Maki finished her cup first. She placed it down and stayed silent for a moment. She looked lost in thought. Kaede thought she looked pretty like that.

 

Maki cleared her throat awkwardly and looked like she was about to say something. For just a moment, her lips parted. Nothing came out, and the wind continued to blow in the background. The noise, though stifling, was calming in a weird way.

 

Kaede liked to think that the wind was Maki.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> iTS STILL FRIDAY IN CALIFORNIA!!! I narrowly didn't make it in time because my school had finals this week, haha.
> 
> Also, for the next 2 weeks (3/30-4/13), this fic will be on hiatus. Starting next week is my spring break, and I will be on vacation! I'll make sure to write as much as I can in advance, but the likelihood of an update on the 6th is rare. 
> 
> That's all for now, I hope you enjoy this update! <3


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